18. Reading Obstacles 9: Relations Between Sentences

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Meanings are created just by placing sentences together. Understanding them is a vital part of reading

WHAT IS A SENTENCE RELATION?

A sentence relation is a meaning created just by placing two sentences next to each other in a text. Consider the meaning of the following single sentence:

(a) Italians frequently eat pasta.

By itself this just states a fact about Italians and/or pasta. However, placed after another sentence the same words will usually say something extra:

(b) Most countries have a staple food. Italians frequently eat pasta.

The extra meaning that the sentence now has is that of being an example. There are no special words that communicate this meaning but nevertheless we understand it because we know that Italians belong to the class of “countries” and pasta belongs to the class of “food” (see 33. Complex Example-Giving). The logical process by which we recognise the extra meaning is similar to that used for discovering preposition meaning between two neighbouring nouns (see 136. Types of Description by Nouns).

“Example” is only one of many possible sentence relations in English. Consider what happens if we change the first of the two sentences above:

(c) Chinese food is typified by rice. Italians frequently eat pasta.

Now we have a different sentence relation: contrast. No specific word expresses this meaning; it just comes from the two sentences being together, combined with our recognition of two pairs of opposites (Chinese/Italians and rice/pasta). Other major types of sentence relation are similarity, reason, consequence, addition, specification, surprise and alternative.

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DETAILS OF SENTENCE RELATIONS

Sentence relations have two main characteristics that have to be borne in mind if you are trying to discover and understand one in a text.

1. They involve two sentences

It is possible for the meaning created by placing two sentences together to be found in one sentence instead of two (see, for example, 1. Simple Example-Giving,  32. Expressing Consequences,  117. Restating Generalizations More Specifically and 216. Indicating Differences).

However, when there is only one sentence, we cannot say there is a sentence relation. As a result, simply identifying a particular meaning like “example” is not enough for recognising a sentence relation. The presence of two sentences will, of course, be shown by a full stop between them, though an acceptable alternative might be a semi-colon (see 17. Colons versus Semi-Colons).

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2. The second sentence indicates the specific meaning

To understand the importance of this characteristic, consider the sentence relation in the following:

(d) Oil output was restricted in the 1970s. The price of petrol increased considerably.

The first sentence here gives the cause of what the second says, and the second gives the result of the first. So is the sentence relation “cause” or “result”? Following the guideline given above, the relation is the result expressed by the second sentence.

One other point to note is that not all pairs of sentences are as clearly related as the examples given above. I hesitate to say that some pairs of sentences are not related, but I would suggest that trying to find a link is sometimes very difficult.

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THE LINK BETWEEN “CONNECTORS” AND SENTENCE RELATIONS

Although sentence relations do not need any special words to be understood, there are such words available to writers if they want to make sure the relation is clear. These words will often be adverb-like “connectors” (see 40. Conjunctions versus Connectors and 259. Multi-Word Connectors), but occasionally they will be other kinds of words instead (see 112. Synonyms of Connectors).

Connectors and their equivalents go in the second of two related sentences. In (b) above, it would be possible to add the connector for example to the second sentence; in (d) an appropriate connector would be consequently. Other examples of connectors are on the other hand, similarly, moreover, however, alternatively and this is because.

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HOW SENTENCE RELATIONS CAUSE DIFFICULTY IN READING

Three different errors seem possible with sentence relations. The most basic one is to read the sentences in isolation from each other, without looking for any connection between them at all. If this is done, the full meaning of a text cannot be understood, since it depends quite heavily on sentence relations.

The other two possible errors both involve misunderstanding a particular sentence relation. In one case, the problem is failing to notice clues to the relation in the two sentences, such as the mentions of a class name and a class member signalling example and the mentions of opposites showing a contrast. In the other case, the problem is misunderstanding the meaning of a connector in the second sentence. This problem is quite a major one because connectors rarely translate exactly from one language to another; they are often similar in two languages but with a subtle difference. Some of the most problematic connectors in English can be read about within this blog in the post 20. Problem Connectors.

Reading as much as possible is probably the best way to become skilled at recognising sentence relations, but doing exercises might help a little as well. The next section offers two that can be tried. In addition, there is a worksheet (5. Sentence Links) that can be downloaded from the Learning Materials page.

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PRACTICE IN RECOGNIZING SENTENCE RELATIONS

EXERCISE 1:  Each of the sentences below is a possible continuation of a text beginning One benefit of prosperity is that people have more free time.  However, the sentence relation created by each continuation is different each time. Can you match the right meaning with the right continuation (answers below)?

Sentence Relations

REASON, UNEXPECTED RESULT, EXPECTED RESULT, ADDITION, CLARIFICATION

Continuations:

1. Hunger is rare.

2. They do not have to work as much.

3. To avoid being bored, they participate in more leisure activities.

4. Some become unhappy if they are not busy enough.

5. Employers are more willing to cut the length of the working week.

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Answers  (Sometimes more than one answer is possible).

1. Addition;  2. Clarification;  3. Expected Result;  4. Unexpected Result;  5. Reason.

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EXERCISE 2:  Match each sentence in List A below with the sentence in List B that helps to make the sentence relation shown in brackets.

List A

1. Key points in a talk need to be emphasised.  (REASON)

2. Success at sport requires frequent physical exercise.  (SIMILARITY)

3. Global warming may be taking place because of human activity.  (ALTERNATIVE)

4. Water evaporates from the sea and forms clouds.  (NEXT STEP)

5. Some theorists link child learning with maturation. (CONTRAST)

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List B

A. Increased sunspot activity could be a factor.

B. Others say that it depends on past learning.

C. People do not always notice the obvious.

D. Academic Achievement will not come without regular assignments.

E. Rain falls onto the land or the sea.

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Answers

1 – C;  2 – D;  3 – A;  4 – E;  5 – B

17. Colons versus Semi-colons

 

Colons show equivalence or explanation; semi-colons can replace a full stop to show extra closeness of two statements

COLON/SEMI-COLON SIMILARITIES

Colons and semi-colons have a similar kind of wording both before and after them. The words before them are usually able to make a possible sentence by themselves; in other words, if you left out the colon/semi-colon plus all of the words after it, the sentence would still sound complete (for advice on recognising complete sentences, see 30. When to Write a Full Stop). Here are some examples to illustrate this feature:

(a) (COLON) South America has a promising future: it will become very rich.

(b) (SEMI-COLON) Spanish and Portuguese are both spoken widely in South America; English and French are the main European languages in Africa.

Some writers do not always use colons in this way: they also place them after a particular kind of wording that cannot be a sentence by itself, like this:

(c) ?The two main languages of South America are: Spanish and Portuguese.

In such sentences, the words before the colon typically end with a verb, commonly BE (cf. are above) or an equivalent like COMPRISE (see 162. How to Write about Classifications). However, this is a disputed usage. I would suggest that the only time when a colon should be used directly after a verb is when the next words (after the colon) are physically separated from it – as bullet points, for example, or in a table (see 74. Sentence Lists 3: Bullet Points).

The similarity between the wording after colons and that after semi-colons is that they both say something that is linked especially closely to the information before them. It is mostly the kind of link that dictates whether to use a colon, a semi-colon or a full stop in between.

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COLON/SEMI-COLON DIFFERENCES

The kind of information that colons introduce must be equivalent to the information before them, or a reason for it. In example (a) above, the equivalence is between promising future and become very rich.

We could sum up this equivalence with an “equals” sign, like this: promising future = become very rich. In fact, a colon can be thought of as a non-mathematical equals sign. Its physical appearance reflects this: its top and bottom parts (two dots) look alike, just as the top and bottom of “=” look alike.

Equivalence after a colon may or may not be in the form of a list. It is not a list in sentence (a) above, but it is in the following example:

(d) South America has two main languages: Spanish and Portuguese.

A common alternative way of writing colon sentences, either with or without a list after the colon, is with a starting there (see 161. Special Uses of “There” Sentences). Thus, sentence (a) could begin There is a promising future for … and (d) could begin There are two… . For a wider study of list-form equivalence, see 55. Sentence Lists 2: Main-Message. For a wider study of other equivalence, see 117. Restating Generalizations More Precisely.

Semi-colons, on the other hand, can introduce many different types of linked information, but never something that is equivalent. In example (b) above, the words after the semi colon make a contrast with what is said before it. Contrast is a very common type of linked information after a semi-colon, but not the only type.

There is also a grammatical difference between colons and semi-colons. The words between a colon and the full stop at the end of the sentence may or may not contain a verb, but the words after a semi-colon must contain one. The words after the colon in sentence (a) above contain the verb will become, whereas the list after the colon in (d) has no verb (lists with verbs always go in a new sentence: see 122. Signpost Words in Multi-Sentence Lists).

Here is another sentence with no verb after the colon, this time without a list:

(e) Alexander the Great probably died of a familiar illness: malaria.

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SIMILARITY BETWEEN SEMI-COLONS AND FULL STOPS

Any semi-colon can be rewritten as a full stop. This is because semi-colons have a verb both before and after them, just as most full stops do. The main difference between semi-colons and full stops is that semi-colons suggest a closer link between two statements than a full stop does.

However, there is no rule for deciding whether a link is close enough for a semi-colon instead of a full stop – it is just a matter of subjective choice by the writer or speaker, similar to the kind of choice that has to be made about paragraphing (see 59. Paragraph Length) and quoting instead of paraphrasing (see 79. Grammar Problems in Quotation Writing).

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SEMI-COLONS USED INSTEAD OF COMMAS

The semi-colon use described above is often called the “weak full stop” use. A completely different use is as a “strong comma” in lists, where normally commas would be found (see 50. Right and Wrong Comma Places). Semi-colons are preferred to commas in a list when the parts of the list are long and complicated, especially if they involve commas of the non-listing kind.  Here is an example:

(f) South America has some very notable features: the Amazon is one of the greatest rivers in the world; the Andes are among the tallest mountains in the world; and Brazil is one of the largest countries in the world.

It would be correct to use commas instead of the semi-colons here, but semi-colons are better because of the length of the three listed points. Note also the use of the colon after features.

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PRACTICE EXERCISE: CHOOSING BETWEEN COLONS & SEMI-COLONS

Each of the following sentences needs either a colon or a semi-colon (depending on whether or not an equivalence is present). The task is to decide which form of punctuation is needed each time, and where it should go (answers below).

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1. There is one computer programming language underlying all others machine code.

2. Geometry has some usefulness in the building industry there are various measurements that it facilitates.

3. Trains are safer than cars and better for the environment they should be preferred whenever possible.

4. The world is much older than previously thought four billion years at least.

5. European languages are widely spoken in other continents Spanish is found right across South America.

6. A straight line has a self-evident property it is the shortest distance between two points.

7. There is a simple solution to the problem of body weight exercise should be taken on a regular basis.

8. Physical strength depends on regular exercise academic success is not possible without constant study.

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ANSWERS

1. others:  (language = machine code);  2. industry:  (usefulness = facilitates measurements);  3. environment;  (RESULT);  4. thought:  (much older = four billion years);  5. continents;  (EXAMPLE);  6. property:  (property = shortest distance);  7. weight:  (solution = exercise);  8. exercise;  (ANALOGY/SIMILARITY)